If you are here because a virus called [email protected] Ransomware has invaded your system and robbed you of your most valuable files, then you will want to stay on this page for a little while longer. [email protected] is what’s known as ransomware and it’s called that because of the ransom that it demands after it encrypts the files on the victim’s computer. Now, one thing that you should know about ransomware is that it’s no joking matter. This is easily the most harmful malware type out there and its consequences can prove truly devastating, not only for regular users, but also for entire companies and institutions. Hackers also target hospitals, schools and big corporations, because they have deeper pockets for them to extort money from. But luckily, paying some random criminals doesn’t have to be the only option you have. As a matter of fact, we are gladly offering you an alternative right here and it won’t cost you a cent. Below this article is a detailed removal guide with instructions on how you can remove [email protected] Ransomware from your system and possibly also recover your encrypted files. But be sure to read through the article first, before heading over to the guide.

What ransomware does and why it has become such a menace

There are a few factors that set ransomware apart from other virus types and that have greatly contributed to it becoming the global threat that it is today. For one, unlike other viruses, ransomware like [email protected] doesn’t actually do anything malicious to your computer. Before you object, let us explain. Once inside your system, the virus will begin to scan your PC for certain files types. After this it will begin to create encrypted copies of them, whilst also deleting the originals. The encryption process in itself is not something harmful, and is actually something that is primarily of great use to humanity today. For this reason most antivirus programs will not even see this process as a malicious one and will allow it to continue without even informing you about it.

Another reason why malware of this type has been so successful is the fact that encryption keys it uses are often very, very sophisticated. Therefore reversing the encryption proves impossible most of the time. Even receiving a decryption key from the hackers may not always guarantee that you will be able to access your files again. Furthermore, many ransomware victims don’t even reach the point where they can test it – they simply never receive a decryption key, even though they’ve already completed the transfer. Thus, we wouldn’t recommend complying with the ransom demands of the hackers behind [email protected] Ransomware. These are, after all, criminals, even if they choose to hide behind the screen of a computer. And that is precisely why we’re offering you another option of dealing with this infection.

The first thing you ought to do is locate and remove [email protected] from your system. This is important, because otherwise even if you do decrypt your files, it can re-encrypt all over again and then you will most likely will have lost all chances of recovering your data for good. This is what the removal guide will show you how to do, and you may perhaps find the removal tool we have useful, too. It will basically just do all the same things for you, although we should say that sometimes the virus may prevent the tool from running. After that, please again refer to the removal guide for the instructions aimed at recovering your files from system backups. This may or may not be possible, depending on your particular case, because each case is different.

Other file recovery options include decryptor tools that are released by security software companies with the intention of fighting ransomware. We have a listed some of the latest decryptor tools on our website and we constantly update that list, so be sure to check with it, if necessary. Alternatively, you can also always try getting in touch with a specialist of your choice for help. But now that you’ve lived through this rather unpleasant experience, we trust you will take better precautions from now on to avoid infections of this type in the future.

Prior to starting to execute the steps from the guide, we advise you to either bookmark this page or open it on a separate device since throughout the process of completing the guide, you might need to exit your browser.

1: Using Safe Mode

Before beginning to troubleshoot the issue, you are advised to enter Safe Mode on your PC. If you do not know how to do that, use this guide on how to enter Safe Mode.

2: Spotting the process

Open your Task Manager using the Ctrl + Shift + Esc key combination. Next, go to the processes tab and carefully look through the list for any shady entries. Usually, malicious processes will be consuming large amounts of CPU and RAM and will either have no description or will have a suspicious-looking one.

Once you identify the virus’ process, right-click on it and select Open File Location. Delete everything in the folder that opens if you are sure that the process was malicious. If you are not sure, contact us in the comments.

Go back to the Task Manager and end the potentially harmful process.

3: Hosts file IP’s

Go to your start menu and in the search field, paste the following address: notepad %windir%/system32/Drivers/etc/hosts. Select the first result and look at the bottom of the newly opened notepad file. See if there are any IP’s below “Localhost” and tell us in the comments if there were any IP addresses.

4: System Configuration Startup Programs

Type System Configuration in the Windows search bar and open the first result. Go to the Startup tab and take a look at the list of startup programs (on Windows 10, the Startup programs can be seen in the Startup Section of the Task Manager). If any of them look shady or have unknown manufacturer or a manufacturer with a sketchy name, uncheck those entries and click on OK.

5: Registry

Open the Run window (WinKey + R), type regedit and press Enter. Once the Registry Editor opens, press Ctrl + F and type the name of the virus. Select Find Next and delete whatever gets found that has the virus’ name. Do that with all search results.

6: Deleting potential virus files

Open the Start Menu and separately type each of the following locations: %AppData% %LocalAppData% %ProgramData% %WinDir% %Temp% . Open each of those folders and sort their contents by date. Delete the most recent files and folders. When you open the Temp folder, delete everything in it.